Mystical Meditations on the Holy Rosary: a prayer book

An ancient prayer, prayed in a new way.The traditional Holy Rosary kept whole and honored — then opened into four progressively deeper mystical versions, carrying the same beads from the warm address of the heart to the wordless edge of pure presence.For everyone who has loved the Rosary and sensed there is more beneath its words, and for everyone drawn to Christian mysticism and contemplative prayer, Mystical Meditations on the Holy Rosary is a single Rosary prayed at five depths — the same twenty mysteries offered in five voices, so you may pray at whatever depth meets you.FIVE ROSARIES IN ONEThe Traditional Rosary — exactly as handed down.The Affective Rosary — warm, heart-centered prayer with Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Ávila.The Rosary of the Living Light — the cosmic mysticism of Hildegard of Bingen.The Rosary of the Flowing Light — the bridal mysticism of Mechthild of Magdeburg and Catherine of Genoa.The Rosary of Pure Presence — the wordless, apophatic way of Marguerite Porete.GROUNDED IN SIX GREAT WOMEN MYSTICSJulian of Norwich — "All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."Hildegard of Bingen — the Living Light at the root of all things.Mechthild of Magdeburg — "I cannot dance unless you lead me."Teresa of Ávila — the soul as an interior castle.Catherine of Genoa — "In God is my Being, my Me, my Strength."Marguerite Porete — the annihilated soul, given over wholly to Love.WHAT'S INSIDEAll twenty mysteries — Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous — each written in five versions, with a meditation, a mantra, and a chant for every decade.Short mantra-practices to carry through the day — on a walk, in a waiting room, through a sleepless night.Longer chants for the praying hour, in the manner of Hildegard's antiphons.A "Wordless Way" chapter of single-word prayer and fourteen vanishing-phrase liturgies that thin to a single breath.Quick-reference prayer cards to keep beside the beads.Carried throughout by the spirit of surrender — holy abandonment into the hands of God.Whether you are a lifelong Catholic seeking the mystical depth beneath the familiar prayers, a contemplative drawn to centering prayer, breath prayer, and lectio divina, or a spiritual seeker returning to the inheritance of the Christian mystics, this is a ladder of love — descending from the lips into the heart, and from the heart into the stillness where God is already waiting.A meaningful gift for anyone who loves the Rosary, Marian devotion, the great women mystics, or a contemplative life of prayer. Read more